Drexel Half Full

Drexel’s new police force initiative is a great move by the University and many students feel it is about time. A large percentage of students (myself included) feel “safer” with Drexel public safety officers on and around campus (compared to there being none!), but always wondered in the back of our heads what would really happen if we were in trouble and needed help and what the public safety officers could really do. Plus, I know I’d call 9-1-1 before 215-895-2222.

Now though, 9-1-1 should go to Drexel police, who are only going to be dedicated to solving Drexel crime, following Drexel crime patterns, carrying weapons, being able to arrest, and probably concentrating north and west of campus on their patrols. With so many cops patrolling just for Drexel’s interests, not only will they prevent crime, but if crime does occur, it’s much more likely that the culprits will be caught, either right away or eventually.

Additionally, it has been hinted in this transformation that regular public safety officers like we have now would stick to campus (where there is very little crime) and do escorts and other things like that. I hope that in this transformation the current officers are trained in Drexel activities and customer service and become people that we can turn to for directions etc. because I know that I try to say “hello” to officers every time I pass one, but most look away from me as I get close, and its very uncomfortable. They could become very valuable assets for visitors to the University in their new role, if they are trained to do so.

Photo courtesy of Triangle Files

The Triangle ran an editorial today about other universities cutting costs for lower-income students and that Drexel should follow suit, RATHER than following their Master Plan. I disagree.

According to the editorial: “In 10 years, Drexel may have state-of-the-art buildings, a beautiful campus and high rankings in The Princeton Review. But its reputation will surely suffer if high-quality students are attending other academically comparable schools because the bill is 50 percent less.”

I think that Drexel, being 108th in the country and rising, needs to continue to focus on the kind of improvements in the Master Plan before it can do what these other schools are doing. If Drexel were to back off on the Master Plan and put a significant amount of money towards this, that would tell me that they are happy with being only 108th.

I also believe it’s much easier for these other universities to give free rides to lower income students because they simply accept LESS of them. Here is an excerpt from an article on Drexel.edu:

“Of (Drexel) undergraduates who applied for financial aid last year, 2,412 are from families earning less than $60,000 annually, 2,406 from families earning $60,000 to $109,000 and 2,473 from families earning more than $109,000. About $108 million in financial aid was provided to 70 percent of undergraduates in the current academic year. The federally based Pell Grant supported 2,024 of Drexel’s neediest students, about four times as many as Harvard, Yale and Lehigh and about twice as many as Penn.”

Drexel has about 2,000 students who need Pell Grants to about 500 for Harvard and Yale. It is much easier to pay tuition for 500 students than it is for 2,000. Drexel was founded on giving lower income families a chance to learn skills. Numbers like these make me believe that Drexel still has that mission in its acceptance process. However, that mission, and also the fact that Drexel is NOT content with 108th, are both great things, but make it hard for them to give similar tuition credits as these other universities do, at least right now.

Source: 2/29/2008 Triangle Edboard, Drexel.edu Applications Article
Photo courtesy of mbbc.edu

Mike - posted 2/01/08 @ 9:35 AM EST

“Read between the lines. The housing market in Sacramento is in the toilet. What better way for a developer to create more business than “donate” land to a university, then cash in by developing around it. Drexel will be the anchor store to this development. These developers are masquerading as philanthropists. This deal smacks of Cheney and Haliburton. Can you read between the lines? Drexel is big enough and its acceptance rate way too high for it to be regarded as a prestigious university. Papadakis said several years ago that Drexel should be ranked in the top 80 national universities, he hasn’t cracked the top 100 yet. Drexel needs more quality than quantity. Improve on what you already have!”

Andy - posted 2/03/08 @ 3:35 AM EST

“I’m gonna have to agree with Mike on this one! How can you open another campus when the one you already have is less than perfect?! I don’t really see that campus being very profitable since it’s in a very rural area. Also maybe I just see Drexel as a more “urban” institution but I don’t really see a rural campus fitting in with the Drexel culture. On the upside there is the potential to start a brand new campus from scratch but then again how far could you go with it in such an unpopulated area?”

The previous were two comments in response to an article in the February 1^st issue of the Triangle called “Placer County officials to visit.” The opinions held by both of these individuals is very negative and I think unfairly so. Mike’s first complaint is that Drexel is being duped and that the housing market is down. However, the housing market wasn’t in the toilet, it was actually really high, when the Placer County officials came to Drexel. Also, I think that this deal is just as good for Drexel as it is for the developers. They get the ability to develop their new campus with much of the cost already paid for. Sure, the developers of their choice will be obvious, but Drexel gets to sell hundreds of acres to raise funds for its building, making the amount of money that Drexel may have to take away from its Philadelphia campuses.

Mike’s next comments are just slander against Drexel. Drexel is regarded as a prestigious university. Its acceptance rate is too high, but it has been steadily going down and will continue to go down. In this week’s issue the Triangle reported that in 2008 there will be over 25,000 applications submitted for 2,500 spots. As Drexel’s ranking increases and its reputation grows with events such as the debate and table tennis tournament, Drexel will need to accept less and less students. We haven’t cracked the top 100 universities yet, but being in the top 110 is very amazing, considering there are over 3,600 institutions of higher learning in the U.S. Also, two other Pennsylvania campuses with California presences are the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon. I think that Drexel should strive to be in as many categories as possible with those schools.

As far as Andy, all he seems to care about is the new campus not being in an urban location. That doesn’t matter for most universities which are in rural locations. Penn State seems to be doing just fine. They are going to be recruiting students from all along the west coast, so I don’t think it will be a problem “go with it in such an unpopulated area.” Drexel as of right now is not perfect, but its not like it will be stretching itself thin. The California campus is going to be only for certain Business concentrations, not even for engineering. It will only supplement Drexel and make its brand more nationally known.

From our master plan, we know that Drexel is going to lease the Armory and renovate it and turn it into a basketball arena that will have at least twice the capacity of the current DAC. This is great because besides giving the Dragons basketball teams a home, it will free up the DAC for other sports and more recreational activities and give us a larger gathering arena for events such as graduation, convocation, concerts, speeches, etc. It is an around great move in my opinion.

However, I stumbled upon a thread on the CAA Zone message board regarding a new arena for Drexel. Here are some interesting ideas that posters on the message board proposed for arena locations:

• With the Spectrum possibly being demolished, have Drexel team up with Comcast to build a multi-purpose arena near campus
• On the parking lot between the back of Caneris Hall all the way to 30^th Street Station, where the university plans to build a skyscraper hotel in its long-term vision, instead build an arena (possibly narrowing or closing 32^nd at JFK Street to do it)
• Build an arena “on stilts” above the railroad tracks east of campus, where the shaft and current railroad tracks are
• Gut Curtis and Randell and build an arena connected to Main Building

I still think the Armory right now is the best and most feasible idea. Once we take over the armory, we can remove all of the jersey barriers surrounding the building, replace all of the windows, clean the brick, add central air, and close the street north of it and make it a nice path between East / University Crossings and the gym and Lancaster Walk. It is right in the middle of campus and will go a long way towards a gathering point for students and making the center of our campus more beautiful.

Source: CAA Zone Message Thread
Photo Courtesy of Drexel PDC

One of the main complaints about Drexel that I constantly hear is parking. How am I going to find a spot? There is no where to go, unless I park far away where it could be vandalized. Drexel should get us more parking. It’s their fault!

What I think students fail to realize is that Drexel is NOT responsible for street parking. That is controlled by the city, or more directly, by the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA). They decide what legal street parking spots are and where spots are metered, free, or permit-only. They also decide the hours. Drexel is NOT responsible for getting students free parking or any kind of street parking for that matter.

Students say, well shouldn’t the university do something about it? Shouldn’t they create more parking? I was sitting in a town hall meeting with President Papadakis last summer, and he was asked about parking. A student claimed that there is a HUGE DEMAND for it that the university is ignoring (and I agreed with him at the time). Papadakis replied that there actually isn’t a demand because Drexel has over 15 surface parking lots and also the parking garage and since the renovation for that was completed, a waiting list wasn’t needed anymore for DREXEL parking (as of that town hall meeting).

I know that I try to park for free on Powelton Avenue, and its very frustrating (at least on a weekday), but this was a point that really drove home for me and made me realize its not Drexel’s fault. Drexel doesn’t own the streets (unlike colleges in rural areas which usually do), and so they can’t give street parking. They can only give lots and garages, and they do and it doesn’t have a waiting list, meaning anyone who applies for it gets it immediately. Therefore, there isn’t a parking problem on campus and until the demand increases and the university doesn’t promptly react, will there be a problem that Drexel needs to address.

Source and photo: Drexel Parking Services

In an Inquirer article today, we have learned that Joseph M. Casey will be the new general manager of SEPTA. The following are some of the things that Casey promises riders:

1.Shorter waits at Center City ticket windows
2.Expanded peak hours
3. More frequent service on the Market-Frankford line
4. Newly scavenged train cars for the overcrowded Regional Rail lines

This is great news and these are all sensible, measurable things that the organization can immediately do to make an impact. For example, starting February 11^th, peak service on the blue subway line will be extended a half-hour to 9 a.m. on westbound trains and 45 minutes, to 9:24 a.m. on eastbound trains. He also will make weekday off-peak hour trains run every six minutes instead of every eight. SEPTA has ordered new rail cars but they won’t come until June 2010 (so I can ride one to my graduation); however, 400 new buses are coming starting in August.

Casey’s second priority is an electronic smart card fare-collection system. SEPTA is going to request proposals in mid-March and hand out a contract by the end of 2008. The system will allow riders to use a Visa or MasterCard to pay for the ride as if you were buying a pack of gum.

I don’t know about other students, but since tokens aren’t sold at 34^th Street subway or 33^rd Street trolley, I end up avoiding taking the subway. The tokens are so hard, inconvenient, and no one wants to pay $2 for something that they know can be gotten for cheaper with a little effort. But people also don’t want to put in that effort, at least in the middle of winter when they live on Spring Garden Street and want to go to Center City. I think when they get a smart card system in place their system and the city itself will flourish.

Right now there is no way to buy tickets for regional rail at the airport except on the train for $2 extra than if you could buy it at a ticket window. That is ridiculous and worse than getting overcharged $0.70 at 34^th Street. However, once this is in place, everyone will be going on the subway and buses and regional rails, and students benefit since every college student has a card.

This will go a long way for customer service because the people at subway stops will now be there to give travel information like workers in other transit systems. They will have to be helpful and courteous. I think this is a great move for SEPTA and the city. Drexel will be able to get involved by making our ultima-funds work for the system and then getting the Drexel discount will be even easier for students too.

Source: SEPTA’s New Chief
Photo courtesy of Stan’s Railpix